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6000-series Flxible - Retirements


BusHunter

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  • 1 month later...

If i remember correctly there is no more flxible scrap left at 77th except for what ever nabi`s are left along with the one or two tmc`s that are still in use it seems like for wb`s and maybe an optima but other than that i dont see anymore but it has been a while since ive been down there so. I could be wrong.

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If i remember correctly there is no more flxible scrap left at 77th except for what ever nabi`s are left along with the one or two tmc`s that are still in use it seems like for wb`s and maybe an optima but other than that i dont see anymore but it has been a while since ive been down there so. I could be wrong.

Think i've seen some among the NABI's from the Red Line.

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WB is Work Bus not Warming Bus. Latest in a long line of work buses including the narrow 4900 RTS and before that the 1600 & 9800 Flyers.

And before the 1600 and 9800 Flyers were the those from among the GMC fishbowls that all got retired by 1996. And there was the Americana that I think some said was used by CTA machinists IIRC and the old 1960s Flxibles and former paratransits used as power stations along the L at different locations.

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  • 2 months later...

Brought this old thread up to mention that for those who might be missing the Cummins M11 equipped 6000s, I found some YouTube clips done by a young transit enthusiast by the name of DaShawn Collins who uploaded clips of rides he took in 2011 on SEPTA 2004 rehabbed NF D40LFs and 2005 models of that bus that have Cummins ISL engines operating with ZF Ecomat 592-6HP transmissions that make those buses sound very close to CTA's Flxibles 6305-6329 that ran with Cummins M11 engines.

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Brought this old thread up to mention that for those who might be missing the Cummins M11 equipped 6000s, I found some YouTube clips done by a young transit enthusiast by the name of DaShawn Collins who uploaded clips of rides he took in 2011 on SEPTA 2004 rehabbed NF D40LFs and 2005 models of that bus that have Cummins ISL engines operating with ZF Ecomat 592-6HP transmissions that make those buses sound very close to CTA's Flxibles 6305-6329 that ran with Cummins M11 engines.

Can't think of anything better than the original audio of our CTA Flxible Metro E with a Cummins M11 Engine. Nabinut was nice enough to post a clip to YouTube, rattles, pothole bangs and all. Surprisingly, this engine didn't have the dreaded belt squeal I remember many of them having. Must've been in good condition when he took the video or one of the rare Metro E's that didn't have this squeal.

But I digress... here is Ex-CTA #6316!!!

This one chnchlla88 posted to YouTube reminds me of the dreaded belt squeal... Ex-CTA #6328!!!

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Can't think of anything better than the original audio of our CTA Flxible Metro E with a Cummins M11 Engine. Nabinut was nice enough to post a clip to YouTube, rattles, pothole bangs and all. Surprisingly, this engine didn't have the dreaded belt squeal I remember many of them having. Must've been in good condition when he took the video or one of the rare Metro E's that didn't have this squeal.

But I digress... here is Ex-CTA #6316!!!

This one chnchlla88 posted to YouTube reminds me of the dreaded belt squeal... Ex-CTA #6328!!!

That sounded more like a brake squeal than an engine belt squeal on 6328. You could only hear it as the operator applied the brakes and decelerated the bus. I remember quite a number of the Detroit Diesel powered 6000s had that same squeal. I know a number of former Kedzie 6000s were plagued with this squeal.

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That sounded more like a break squeal than an engine belt squeal on 6328. You could only hear it as the operator applied the brakes and decelerated the bus. I remember quite a number of the Detroit Diesel powered 6000s had that same squeal. I know a number of former Kedzie 6000s were plagued with this squeal.

That's what it sounds like, but it is some sort of engine belt. I would guess a drive belt. I did take Ashland home occasionally and remember getting some of the M11-powered Flxibles and remember some of those squeals. They did distinctively occur often when the buses decelerated, but also sometimes when accelerating and shifting gears.

As far as the Flxibles with the Detroit Series-50 engines, I remember some of the squeals they had when accelerating(namely 6175 for a period. That bus was all squeal from the moment the Operator started acceleration until he/she let off the gas pedal). The New Flyer D40LF with the Detroit Series-50 engines did a lot of squealing too. I wonder if it had something to do with the Detroit Series-50 engine overall. I can't speak for the Cummins M-11 engine, however.

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I remember seeing that bus on a work assignment in August 2011 near a Brown Line station (want to say Sheridan). I wonder how many Work Buses CTA has.

That would be Red Line. Brown Line doesn't join the North Side Main Line until the Clark St. Jct as it pulls into Belmont.

As far as the number of Work Buses CTA has, I would guess that number would be 10 or less. I don't think they would need a great many.

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That's what it sounds like, but it is some sort of engine belt. I would guess a drive belt. I did take Ashland home occasionally and remember getting some of the M11-powered Flxibles and remember some of those squeals. They did distinctively occur often when the buses decelerated, but also sometimes when accelerating and shifting gears.

As far as the Flxibles with the Detroit Series-50 engines, I remember some of the squeals they had when accelerating(namely 6175 for a period. That bus was all squeal from the moment the Operator started acceleration until he/she let off the gas pedal). The New Flyer D40LF with the Detroit Series-50 engines did a lot of squealing too. I wonder if it had something to do with the Detroit Series-50 engine overall. I can't speak for the Cummins M-11 engine, however.

I just pictured what squeal you're referring to and I still think it's two separate sounds linked to two separate items on the 6000s. There was that engine belt screech you remember but I'm still inclined to think in this case with 6328 that since the squeal is heard only when that driver is stopping the bus at a traffic light or bus stop that it's more possibly something going on with the brake pads. At any rate though when I heard the growl of that Cummins ISL engine-ZF Ecomat transmission combination in those SEPTA D40LFs, I kept thinking if I had my eyes closed and didn't already know they were New Flyer buses powered by a Cummins ISL I would guess I was hearing a 1990s built Flxible Metro powered by a Cummins M11.

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That would be Red Line. Brown Line doesn't join the North Side Main Line until the Clark St. Jct as it pulls into Belmont.

As far as the number of Work Buses CTA has, I would guess that number would be 10 or less. I don't think they would need a great many.

Then it wasn't Sheridan station. It's been a couple years since I spotted that bus, but it was definitely near a Brown Line station. Now I'm thinking it might have been either Montrose or Damen (for some reason, I recall it was around a curve), but it was near the Brown Line.

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I just pictured what squeal you're referring to and I still think it's two separate sounds linked to two separate items on the 6000s. There was that engine belt screech you remember but I'm still inclined to think in this case with 6328 that since the squeal is heard only when that driver is stopping the bus at a traffic light or bus stop that it's more possibly something going on with the brake pads. At any rate though when I heard the growl of that Cummins ISL engine-ZF Ecomat transmission combination in those SEPTA D40LFs, I kept thinking if I had my eyes closed and didn't already know they were New Flyer buses powered by a Cummins ISL I would guess I was hearing a 1990s built Flxible Metro powered by a Cummins M11.

The belt screech can get so bad it disables the bus. If the screech is constant and doesn't clear up easily, it results in a dead motor. I don't know if those buses have a belt drivin' alternator or not or it's just the engine itself that quits.

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  • 3 months later...

They were retired November of 2011, about two years ago. You might see some around as workbuses though.

If you're speaking of the 6000s. they were retired from revenue service in the February 2010 cuts. November of 2011 may have been when the decision came to send them to the scrapper after sitting in storage at the now defunct Archer Garage, but they've been gone from any type of service moving passengers since February of 2010, about three and a half years ago. Now there were reports that a few were brought out of retirement to handle a bus shortage at 103rd Garage. but I've never seen any of them back in service after being pulled in 2010.

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  • 11 months later...

If you're speaking of the 6000s. they were retired from revenue service in the February 2010 cuts. November of 2011 may have been when the decision came to send them to the scrapper after sitting in storage at the now defunct Archer Garage, but they've been gone from any type of service moving passengers since February of 2010, about three and a half years ago. Now there were reports that a few were brought out of retirement to handle a bus shortage at 103rd Garage. but I've never seen any of them back in service after being pulled in 2010.

There were five that were brought back to 103rd in late 2010, but as far as I know never moved a wheel there. 6127 from that bunch was the first of the Fresh Moves buses. 103rd spent several days cleaning it up and making sure it would run before it was shipped off.

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Right now there are exactly two - WB1 and WB2, both assigned to Ironworkers, both Novas.

Wow. CTA's work bus fleet is down to only two, and the two Novas that became work buses at that? That's quite a difference from how many work buses (ones that actually move that is and not used as storage sheds and the like :lol: ) they used to operate in the past.

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